Last Day of Summer

We had a very nice weekend.  The mighty Auburn Tigers beat Texas A&M yesterday.  JoAnne and Frank came over, and we all watched together--so nice when Auburn wins :-)  I've been freezing the garden okra for JoAnne...we get three or four good-sized okra every other day...if only these were some type of berry...

Ashley and Bode went for a paddle board this morning...it was nice and calm, but still very warm.

Here are Ashley and Bode getting ready to launch.

A nice picture as they are heading out.

Finally, one more of them both on the water.

They had a nice time on the water.  They saw a lot of jelly fish, which are neat to see.  However, Bode fell in at one point, and was very afraid--he thought he was going to get stung.  It does hurt a little bit if you get stung, but Ashley said Bode acted like there was a swarm of circling sharks just waiting to get him :-)

The dogs do enjoy their time out in the yard.  There must have been something in a tree that was taunting Barkley.

Not sure why Joey was giving me the stink-eye...

We will probably watch a little football...of course, the dogs will probably take a nap.

Happy autumn to everyone.

More Projects

A number of years ago, Ashley got me a basketball hoop for my birthday.  This was when we were living in Colorado, and we never found the time or right place to put the hoop up.  We don't have a perfect spot yet in Florida for the hoop since we do not have a paved driveway.  However, we anticipate having one...some day.  Thus, I spent a few days and got the basketball hoop installed, complete with 500+ pounds of cement holding the poll in place.

To  paraphrase Billy Hoyle: "That sh*t is regulation" (give or take a couple inches).  The height is easily adjustable, so I usually put it as low as it can be when Bode and I play horse...the little man has yet to beat me.

The other project was a pull-up bar.  Bode asked for one--they've been doing dry-land for 20 minutes at swim practice, and pull-ups are part of the work outs.  He can't quite do one on his own yet--we'll get him some bands so he can start working out on his own.

Right now, the bar is on our back patio, which isn't the final home for it.  We hope to break ground on the carriage house in the next month, and we have space designated in the carriage house for a home-gym.  This bar can also serve as a weight-rack for squats, overhead lifts, and has place to store 45-lb weights, so we think it'll be great once the carriage house is done (hopefully by spring).

The garden continues to provide, although not the food we'd prefer.

We get four or five okra every day--I'm amazed how fast it grows.  Sadly, the only real way to eat okra (that we like) is fried, which isn't very convenient.  Thus, lots of okra, but not much eating of okra.  We also have a number of green beans ripening up, and I also have three watermelons and four cantaloupes; let's hope the bugs don't get them.  Speaking of eating, here's a shot of Bode making himself some dinner.

All is well--work is still work, and we try to relax and enjoy ourselves on the weekend.  Bode is doing fine in school, and the dogs seem content.  Here's hoping this continues :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Auburn Game

We went to the Auburn-Tulane game on Saturday.  Thankfully Auburn won, so it wasn't a wasted weekend :-)  We drove up Saturday morning and arrived in Auburn close to 2:00.  We decided to get some lunch at the Waffle House.

We headed over to the stadium a couple hours before kickoff.  We saw an autograph line and thought it must cost money to get signatures.  To our amazement, it was free.  Ashley and Bode were both wearing hats, so they were able to get some cool signatures.  First up was Jarred Harper, star point guard for Auburn's Final Four basketball team this past spring.

Next was Kenny Irons, a running back who we loved watching and was drafted by the Bengals when we were in Ohio (but got injured in the preseason and never made it back).  He was just the nicest guy to talk with.  Obviously he asked me about how to maintain a good athletic physique because he's let himself go after football... :-)

After a few more signatures, we headed into the stadium.  Fortunately we were in the shade because even though it was a night game, it was hot.

The Auburn band does a pretty cool march around the field before the game starts--it's quite the hoopla.

Auburn has a tradition where on of its eagles swoops down to midfield before the game starts.  I didn't get a movie of this, but I did get some shots of the bird on the handler's arm--very neat looking.

The game eventually started, and I tried to get a picture of Gus Malzahn; below is the best I could do (he's the one in the visor with his back to us).

It was a decent game--Auburn's offense needs a little work.  Still, they were up 24-6 in the 4th quarter when we decided to pack it in.

We have a busy week--school and grading for me, work for Ashley, and band, swim, and school for Bode.  We all could use a break :-)